Running and walking are kinds of aerobic exercises. They are beneficial in promoting weight loss, improving your sleep, elevating your mood, lowering blood pressure and cho9lesterol level, improving your energy and lowering the risk of getting cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Besides being a kind of transport, walking is a great exercise for your body, your looks and overall health. Many think walking is just getting from to place, but that is not true. The steps you make while walking help you to improve cardiovascular strength, lower the chances of disease, and strengthen & tone your muscles which leads to burning of fats.

Walking vs. Running

When the energy expenditure of both activities is balanced out, brisk walking is even more effective than running in reducing the risk of heart attack. According to a study where researchers compared data from two studies over a period of six years of 15,045 walkers and 33, 060 walkers on the age of 18-80, when the same amount of energy was expanded, runners experienced fewer health benefits than the walkers.

When it comes to reducing the risk of heart disease, running is found to provide a reduction of 4.5 percent, while walking reduces the risk by 9.3 percent. However, calorie for calorie, walking was shown to have a strong impact on heart disease risk factors:

The risk of first-time diabetes was reduced by about 12 percent by both walking and running.

First-time high cholesterol risk was reduced by 4.3 percent by running and 7 percent by walking.

Risk of first-time high blood pressure (hypertension) was reduced by 4.2 percent by running and 7.2 percent by walking.

As stated by the study leader, Dr Paul Williams, from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, both moderate-intensity running and walking provide important health benefits, as they involve the same muscle groups. The only difference is the intensity at which each of them is performed. The walkers and runners had to expand the same energy in order to get the same benefits. In brief, you would have to walk more than you would have to run for the very same benefit. Both walking and running are cheap, year-round, and even social activities. However, as running is more rigorous, you should choose a running program able to maximize your conditioning in minimum time.

Dangers Of Pushing Too Hard

A Danish study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, revealed that people who overstrain their bodies may in fact undo the benefit of exercise. Those who ran at a fast pace more than four hours a week, and more than three times per week, were at the same risk of dying during the studyâ€™s 12-year follow up, as those who led sedentary life and hardly exercised at all.

Actually, the study found that those who ran less than three times a week for one to 2.4 hours, at a slow to moderate pace were at the lowest risk of dying during the study. Surprisingly, even people who ran slightly more, for 2.5 hours to four hours a week at an average pace, less than 3 times a week, were at a slightly higher mortality risk of 66%.

According to the final results, the best option one can take is the one closer to the â€˜lessâ€™ side of the curve than the â€˜moreâ€™ side, meaning you can get the same health and fitness benefits by walking more instead of running more.

Why Walking is Great For Almost Everyone

Walking is ideal for those who are just taking up exercise or those experiencing health problems. Plus, walking can be less stressful on the body for those seriously overweight. In addition, when comparing the pros and cons of running and walking, the repetitive nature of running makes it a greater risk for injury. Also, running is regarded as a high impact exercise, which can lead to injury to the hip, knee and ankle joints. Walking, on the other hand, is a low impact activity and is less harmful to the body.

Walking may be easier on your hip and knee joints, but you should still do lunges or squats twice a week. The RealAge benefit of 10,000 steps a day is feeling 4.6 years younger for women and 4.1 for men. In addition, you can come up with ways to include walking in your work, for example a walking meeting or a treadmill desk.

Still Wanting To Run Rather Than Walk?

In case running is still your no.1 choice, consider a way to lower your risk of injury; for instance, running on the best surfaces such as grass, woodland trails, earth, cinders and man-made tracks. Moreover, good quality shoes are a must. Finally, make sure you run with correct form and steadily increase your mileage.